Microsoft Slashes Price of Surface Pro by $100.

Microsoft Corp. this week slashed the price of Surface Pro business-oriented tablet by $100. The offer is valid only by the end of this month, but it will likely get permanent starting from September as popularity of Microsoft’s slates is far from what the company once hoped for.

Starting from August 4 to August 29, 2013, Microsoft will reduce the price of Surface Pro business tablet by $100. Previously, the company cut pricing of Surface RT media tablet based on Windows RT operating system by $150 after it became evident that the product faces very low demand from the end-users. The company had to write down $900 million as a result of Surface RT’s price-cut.

Microsoft Surface Pro tablets with Windows 8 Pro are based on Intel Core i5 microprocessor with 4GB of DDR3 memory and feature 10.6” screen with 1920*1080 resolution, a dramatic improvement compared to the Surface tablets with Windows RT. The professionals-oriented tablets also feature USB 3.0 port, microSDXC card reader, Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, two 720p cameras, and special 2*2 MIMO antennas for Wi-Fi. Unfortunately, no version with 3G or 4G/LTE is currently available. Microsoft Surface with Windows 8 Pro have been on the market since February in two versions: 64GB version for $899 and 128GB version for $999.

While Microsoft Surface with Windows 8 Pro is officially a tablet, it should actually be considered as a fully-fledged laptop as it can run all the applications almost ever written for Windows operating system and x86 microprocessors. At the same time, the business tablets are rather heavy and thick, which is why they will be compared to ultra-slim laptops by the end users.

Microsoft promises that the slate weighs less than two pounds (903 grams) and is 13.5 mm thick. The characteristics seem to be impressive when compared to outdated x86-based business tablets that exist today. However, the Surface with Windows 8 Pro tablets are only slightly lighter and slightly thinner than ultra-thin notebooks, such as Apple MacBook Air.

Discussion

Keep dropping the price M.S.
Around $499 should be about right, then it will be comparable to equivalent laptops.
Doesn't matter what you put in it, it's still a Tablet and consumers won't shell out big dollars for them.

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2.

I'm a businessman who travels extensively. I currently use both a laptop and an iPad. If the next generation of Surface Pro has 4G LTE on Verizon and is not priced out of the park, I'm in. I'm grateful to MS for stepping in, even if they get it wrong at first. I don't think they'll make the same mistake twice.